Sanders Bills to Benefit District, State

Posted by State Rep. Mike Sanders40sc on January 21, 2009

OKLAHOMA CITY –With less than a month left before session kicks off, state Rep. Mike Sanders has filed a bill giving tax credits to a non-profit organization, one protecting the rights of land owners, and two dealing with our roads and bridges.

Sanders has filed four bills that will help District #59 and all of Oklahoma.

House Bill 1473 helps landowners who use their property for agriculture by exempting them from certain municipal ordinances.

Currently, parcels of five acres or more used after July 1, 2003 for agriculture use are exempt from municipal ordinances. Sanders’ legislation will allow any landowner with 10 acres or more used for agriculture to be exempt.

“This just helps to lift some burdens on our farmers by releasing them from ordinances and permits that aren’t helping anyone,” said Sanders, R-Kingfisher.

Another bill gives tax help to a nationwide non-profit agency. House Bill 1471 provides a sales tax exemption to the American Legion branches in Oklahoma.

County commissioners may be relieved if House Bill 1472 gets passed. The bill would increase the threshold for reimbursement for county bridge repairs from $200,000 to $400,000.

“Currently, if a commissioner gets a road crew together to fix a bridge problem and it goes over $200,000 by even one dollar, they are required to get an outside engineering firm to come in and other manpower to fix the problem, raising the out-of-pocket expense on the county tremendously,” said Sanders. “In this economic crisis, we need to do whatever we can to lend a helping hand to our counties.”

Another bill to help counties and Oklahoma drivers would increase the reward for the arrest and conviction, or for evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of any person stealing or defacing county road signs or any other county property. Currently, the reward for this information does not exceed $100 but if House Bill 1470 becomes law it would allow counties to pay up to $1,000 in reward money at their discretion.

“I could not have asked for a better freshman year to serve as representative. We are on the road to accomplish many things that will help this state and improve life for all Oklahoma families and for this state as a whole.”